Date:	Sunday 15 March 1953
Time:	day
Type:	Gloster Meteor F Mk 4
Owner/operator:	215 AFS RAF
Registration:	VW262
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Trent Falls, Alkborough Flats, Alkborough, Lincolnshire, England -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Training
Departure airport:	RAF Finningley, South Yorkshire
Destination airport:	RAF Finningley, South Yorkshire
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Gloster Meteor F.Mk.4 VW262, 205 AFS, RAF: delivered 5 December 1948. Written off (destroyed) 15 March 1953 in a mid-air collision with Gloster Meteor F.Mk.4 RA448 over RAF Finningley, South Yorkshire. Both crew survived uninjured.

Meteor RA448 was engaged in aerobatics practice over RAF Finningley; during this, the pilot of Meteor RA448 saw another Meteor (VW262) about 200 feet below him. He immediately abandoned the aerobatics practice, and positioned his aircraft to fly straight and level, in order to try and get clear of the other aircraft. In doing this manouevre, he lost sight of the other aircraft.

Very shortly afterwards, Meteor RA448 was struck from below by Meteor VW262. Meteor VW262 lost its tail, The pilot of Meteor VW262 immediately bailed out, and landed in the river at Trent Falls, from which he was rescued by a passing fishing boat.

Crew of Meteor VW262:
Pilot Officer (584210) R V A Munro, RAF (pilot) - bailed out 15/3/1953, survived and rescued

The incident did no harm to the career of the pilot; he rose to the rank of Squadron Leader, acquring an AFC (Air Force Cross) and retired from the RAF on January 1st, 1969 (see link #8)

The pilot came down at Alkborough Flats in North Lincolnshire, England, located near the northern end of The Cliff range of hills overlooking Trent Falls, the confluence of the River Trent and the River Ouse. Alkborough Flats is an area of low-lying arable farmland of nearly 990 acres (4 km2) situated at the "Confluence of the Rivers" (Trent Falls) where the Rivers Trent and Ouse join to form the Humber Estuary.

1. Halley, James (1999) Broken Wings – Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents Tunbridge Wells: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p.142 ISBN 0-85130-290-4.
2. Last Take-off: A Record of RAF Aircraft Losses 1950 to 1953 by Colin Cummings p 349
3. Royal Air Force Aircraft SA100-WZ999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1985 p 84)
4. 215 AFS ORB (Operations Record Book)(Air Ministry Form AM/F.540) for the period 1/2/1952 to 30/6/1954: National Archives (PRO Kew) File AIR 29/2143/3 at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7162857
5. http://www.ukserials.com/results.php?serial=VW
6. http://www.bcar.org.uk/1950s-incident-logs#1953
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkborough#Alkborough_Flats
8. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/44760/supplement/206/data.pdf

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
17-Apr-2021 19:16	Dr. John Smith	Added
18-Apr-2021 16:28	King T.	Updated [Operator, Location, Operator]
08-Aug-2021 17:26	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Category]